In the glass finishing art, glass sheets are typically cut into a desired shape, after which the edges are ground and/or polished to remove any sharp corners. This typically involves contact of the glass sheet with a grinding wheel, such as, for example, a abrasive diamond coated grinding wheel. Glass substrates for flat panel displays are finished in this way.
Glass substrates for flat panel displays are often covered with a polymer film prior to their final finishing steps, which typically consist of grinding and/or polishing of the edges of the sheets. The purpose of the polymeric film is to protect the surface of the substrate from any scratches, glass chips, dust, or other airborne matter.
Unfortunately, this can lead to loading of the grinding wheels by the polymer film, which has a negative impact on the manufacturing process. For example, this necessitates having to dress or change the grinding wheels more frequently, and also can lead to lower quality edge grinding.